Electric vehicle supply equipment (“EVSE”) allows for the charging of battery electric vehicles (“BEV”) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (“PHEV”) from an available source of electricity. Specifically, a charge cord may be provided to connect a utility power source to a vehicle battery. For example, if the utility power source is located in a public place such as, for example, a parking garage, then an individual may connect the vehicle to the utility power source by the charge cord. However, if the vehicle is charging in a public place, the charge cord may be especially susceptible to theft. Thus, some types of vehicles currently available may have an alarm system to generally prevent the charge cord from being stolen.
The alarm system deters theft of the charge cord. However, the alarm system may also discourage the efficient utilization of the charge cord as well. This is because an alarm will sound if the charge cord is removed from the vehicle, even if the vehicle battery is completely charged. Thus, the charge cord may stay plugged in to the vehicle well in excess of the time that is needed to fully charge the vehicle battery. If there is only one charge cord available, and multiple vehicles need to be charged, then one of the vehicles may be charged for an excessive amount of time, while the remaining vehicles are not charged at all. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an electrical charging system that efficiently utilizes the charge cord among multiple vehicles.